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'60
SECONDS' ISN'T EVEN WORTH THE TIME...
Written
by Dean
Kish
Edited
by Thomas
Chau
Cast:
Nicolas Cage (Randall "Memphis" Raines), Angelina Jolie
(Sara "Sway" Wayland), Giovanni Ribisi (Kip Raines),
Robert Duvall (Otto Halliwell)
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Premise:
: A car thief agrees to lead his gang one last time
before they retire to take on the challenge of stealing
fifty cars in a single night to save his brother's
life (Ribisi) from the mob. The problem is that
another gang is aiming for the same heist with the
police after them as well. |
Overall
Rating:
Rated PG-13
for
violence, sexuality and language.
Hollywood
producing tycoon Jerry Bruckheimer returns to the silver
screen with another action film.
Putting
aside the Hollywood silver lining, "Gone in 60
seconds" is a remake of the 1974 cult classic of
the same title. The story focus is Memphis Raines (Nicolas
Cage) who has to steal 50 cars in one night or else,
a crimelord will kill his brother.
From
the opening scene, I had a feeling of déjà
vu as I shook my head. The lighting, music, and deafening
sound are all staples of a "Bruckheimer" film.
Within these three elements is where I found the most
of my déjà vu. Why does every outside
shot of a "Bruckheimer" film have to be filmed
like the sun is setting. Doesn’t anyone have a
conversation outside during the day?
Another
element of déjà vu is when Memphis visits
his old mentor (Robert Duvall). As the music montage
climbed in volume and the mood was set, I waited for
an original scene between the mentor and protégé.
Instead what we got was a scene taken right out of "Days
of Thunder" where Tom Cruise and Robert Duvall
have a symbolic talk about the majesty of a perfect
racing machine. The speech wasn’t the same but
the music, mood, body language and lighting were so
uncanny. Through the majority of the picture I felt
sorry for Duvall who was playing the same mentor role
as he has in a lot of movies. "60 Seconds"
is a huge disappointment.
I
don’t blame the director or the stars of this film.
What made this film self-destruct was it’s script
and the editing of the Bruckheimer production company.
I can’t believe nobody saw how bad the dialogue
is.
One
perfect example of script self-destruction was the scene
at the end of the film where Delroy Lindo’s cop
tries to relate to Cage’s car thief by delivering
this line. "I can relate to your situation and
I know why you did it. A brother’s love is a brother’s
love." After he said that I scratched my head and
thought, "what?"
Another
disappointment was with Angelina Jolie who was only
in the film five minutes and had absolutely no chemistry
with Cage. This may have been the script’s fault
but I at least expected some originality and chemistry
during the "What’s better having sex or stealing
cars?" scene.
"Gone
in 60 Seconds" however does completes the action
trilogy of collaborators Nicolas Cage and Jerry Bruckheimer
who opened the trilogy with adrenaline packed film,
"The Rock". Will these guys team up again?
I hope so. I really would like Cage to do another great
action film.
Jerry
Bruckheimer seems to have lost his touch as his second
action film in a row has been a dud. After the huge
box-office of "Armageddon", Bruckheimer seems
to be spreading himself to thin as he opens his first
film of the new millenium. With the projected release
of 5 more films this year from his production company,
I wonder if Bruckheimer maybe has to many projects going
at once.
(2 of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.
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